Spandau Belly wrote:Everybody can tell Bay really cares deeply about what people think of him. It's so obvious he wants to be a guy like Cameron or Spielberg who can make popcorn movies that become classics and also win Oscars. So every now and then he tries something like PEARL HARBOR or THE ISLAND to spread his wings and when he gets panned he just goes back to making stupid messy lowbrow action films and hiding behind his usual front of "critics suck, they don't know anything, my movie made 50 million dollars this weekend, the fans know what's what, so take that!"

He is am interesting one. I think if he tried to pastiche himself instead of parody, then he could make some damn fine 70's esque Grindhouse flicks.

Bluray:Goodfellas (Realised I hadnt actually "watched" this movie before. Musta been hungover or not paying attention in the past, but it rocked my world.)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Looks like a new release. Stunning looking movie. The opening sepia section looks better than most all other blu rays ive seen. Robert Redford had my fiance all a flutter)

Daredevil Directors cut (Kinda enjoyed this one at the cinema, until the internet told me I wasnt supposed to, but havent seen it since. Will be interesting to see how it holds up)

Fantastic Mr Fox (Loved it. Think its easily gonna be rewatched a few times. Loaned it to a friend who set it up for his son to watch. Was quite upset at his kid seeing the rat with a flick knife. eeeek. sorry dude.)

Dirty Harry (Utterly ridiculous, but great fun. The soundtrack is just outstandingly funky.)

DVD:The Dead Zone (Movie not the tv show. Surprisingly has aged rather well. Thoroughly enjoyed it, and got a lot more out of it then as a kid watching for the gory stuff. )

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Peking Duck (Sadly no english subs, so have to make do with Norwegian, but I can learn/practice while I watch)

Apart from Mr Fox they were all sale/used prices so quite a good haul for little cash.

Hermanator X wrote:DVD:The Dead Zone (Movie not the tv show. Surprisingly has aged rather well. Thoroughly enjoyed it, and got a lot more out of it then as a kid watching for the gory stuff. )

"The ICE is gonna BREAK!"

Walken is great in that film. One of my favorite King adaptations.

Yeah, hes ace in it. Some of the movie was a little creaky, but overall it holds up well. WW2 battlescenes done well, and his vision of the housefire is awesome for practical effects. Cronenborg built this baby to last.

Hermanator X wrote:DVD:The Dead Zone (Movie not the tv show. Surprisingly has aged rather well. Thoroughly enjoyed it, and got a lot more out of it then as a kid watching for the gory stuff. )

"The ICE is gonna BREAK!"

Walken is great in that film. One of my favorite King adaptations.

Yeah, hes ace in it. Some of the movie was a little creaky, but overall it holds up well. WW2 battlescenes done well, and his vision of the housefire is awesome for practical effects. Cronenborg built this baby to last.

Yeah, the tone is simply amazing, its one of the few films I've recommended to others that they've actually enjoyed! Having said that, Cronenberg has very few weak sauce films in his oeuvre, and even those are better than most comparably low budget exploitative fair.

Had you seen Shutter Island, or are you going in blind?I'd recommend it strongly, as it's a fine effort from a Certified Gold Standard Director.If you hadn't already seen it, I hope you drop off your opinion in the Shutter Island thread.Let me know it the song "This Bitter Earth" appears at the end of the film. That song was a perfect end cap to the experience,and yet I've seen a version where that song was excised, much to my horror.

On a similar note, does anyone out there have the non-director's cut of Last of the Mohican's?Speaking about things going missing in a film, there were several lines of dialogue &a song by Clannad that were cut for no damned reason I could discern.I loved, loved, loved this film in the theatre, but am very disappointed in the DC.I want the uncircumsized version.

The Vicar wrote:Had you seen Shutter Island, or are you going in blind?I'd recommend it strongly, as it's a fine effort from a Certified Gold Standard Director.If you hadn't already seen it, I hope you drop off your opinion in the Shutter Island thread.Let me know it the song "This Bitter Earth" appears at the end of the film. That song was a perfect end cap to the experience,and yet I've seen a version where that song was excised, much to my horror.

On a similar note, does anyone out there have the non-director's cut of Last of the Mohican's?Speaking about things going missing in a film, there were several lines of dialogue &a song by Clannad that were cut for no damned reason I could discern.I loved, loved, loved this film in the theatre, but am very disappointed in the DC.I want the uncircumsized version.

Have not watched Shutter Island yet, I know the "basic" story, but I think there will be a few surprises...

I recorded the old version of Last of the Mohicans a while ago while it was on TV. What's new in the DC?

A scene outside the fort when Duncan engages the French in a little bitch slapping contest while Hawkeye covers the courier's escape.A little bit more conversion between Duncan and General Webb, mostly insulting the French.A lot of dialogue cut (Someday I think you and I are going to have a serious disagreement, e.g.) and music missing.Hawkeye no longer says "Clear things up any?" to Duncan.A longer coda where Chingachook rambles on about how his country is going to get overrun by the white man.

But the bits that were cut really diminished the story, diminished bits of character.We hates it, we does.

I bought CLASH of the TITANS on Blu Ray.Had to download a hacker programm to crack the copy protection, so that I could watch it on my TV. My fucking PC wasnt let me watch Blu Rays on my TV, the copy protection thinks I am trying to rip the movie...fuck.

Had to order some new batteries for a cordless drill, and Amazon carried them, so I also ordered the following Blu-Rays:

The NeverEnding StorySpartacusPattonThe Good, The Bad, and the UglyLogan's RunLabyrinthThe Dirty Dozen2001: A Space OdysseyMaster and Commander: The Far Side of the WorldRobocopAstro BoyHow The West Was WonInglourious Basterds

Yeah, it is. They all arrived this morning. Roomie wants to watch Astro Boy tonight - he's a longtime fan of the original Japanese show, and figures he ought to see the movie even though he thinks it will suck. I'm not a big Astro Boy fan so I'll probably skip it.

Astro Boy lasted ten minutes on the Blu-Ray player before my roomie took it off in disgust. He hated everything about what they did with his beloved Astro Boy world. So want to know what he put on instead?

Just picked up the Apocalypse Now BluRay on the way to work. It has both versions as well as the Hearts of Darkness doc. And about 702 hours of special features, including a 1 hour interview with John Milius.

I think I'm going to wet my pants.

Disc One

Two versions of the film are included, the original 1979 theatrical cut (running 2:27:17) and Apocalypse Now Redux, which runs 3:16:09. There's an interesting, if perhaps too long, sequence at a plantation which makes up the bulk of the running time difference, but it's fascinating to watch both versions of the film and notice little changes, as in how Col. Kilgore is introduced in the longer edition. My advice is to watch the original theatrical cut first, digest it for a few days, and then return to Redux. Both versions offer a really excellent Commentary by Coppola, obviously edited together from the same recording sessions, but timed differently for each version. The Redux commentary includes some information not included on the theatrical commentary.

Disc Two

The bulk of the standalone supplements are presented on this disc, the first three of which are new to any home video release of this title in either of its iterations:

* A Conversation With Martin Sheen (HD; 59:26), a fun chat with the star and Coppola, where they discuss everything from the convoluted casting process the rigors of filming (Sheen suffered a heart attack during production);* An Interview With John Milius (HD; 49:45), another really interesting gabfest with Coppola and his co-scenarist. Milius discusses his own military ambitions, which played into the writing of this film;* Fred Roos: Casting Apocalypse (HD; 11:44) features the film's casting director talking about the hundreds of actors tested for various roles. Screen test footage is also included;* Mercury Theater Production of 'Heart of Darkness' (Audio; 36:34). This Orson Welles production (the week after his infamous 'War of the Worlds' broadcast) of Conrad's novella is offered, with some significant audio damage;* The Hollow Man (SD; 16:57), a really odd little period (circa 1979) featurette offering Brando reciting Eliot's poem with scenes from the film and the filming itself;* "Monkey Sampan" Deleted Scene (SD; 3:03), a disturbing excised segment which nonetheless features the restless natives singing "Light My Fire";* Additional Scenes (SD; 26:28), a collection of 12 window and pillar-boxed curios with timecode captions;* Destruction of the Kurtz Compound (HD; 6:06), the jettisoned final credits sequence which Coppola ultimately rejected when he feared audiences were misinterpreting it;* The Birth of 5.1 Sound (SD; 5:54), a fascinating and way too brief look at how Apocalypse Now led to a revolution in film surround sound design;* Ghost Helicopter Flyover (SD; 3:55), another very interesting look at the surround design for this one sequence;* The Synthesizer Soundtrack (Text Article), a reprint from Keyboard magazine;* A Million Feet of Film: The Editing of 'Apocalypse Now' (SD; 17:57), a great look at editor Walter Murch at work with his Movieola;* Heard Any Good Movies Lately? The Sound Design of 'Apocalypse Now' (SD; 15:22), shows us in-depth what the sound designers were up against as they basically invented 5.1 surround sound for this film;* The Final Mix (SD; 3:09) has some great footage of the multi-room setup which was necessary to achieve the final mix for the film;* 'Apocalypse' Then and Now (SD; 3:44) has some brief snippets of the Ebert interview from Cannes (see below) with insight into both versions of the film;* 2001 Cannes Film Festival: Francis Ford Coppola (1080i; 38:35), presents the entire Ebert interview from the Festival;* PBR Streetgang (SD; 4:09) profiles the actors playing Willard's crew, including 14 year old Laurence Fishburne;* The Color Palette of 'Apocalypse Now' (SD; 4:06) goes into the technical aspects of the three strip dye transfer Technicolor process utilized on the film.

Disc Three

The bulk of the third disc is given over to the completely fascinating documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (HD; 1.33:1; DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0; running time 1:36:00). This incredible peek behind the long and tortuous filming of Apocalypse Now is one of the most devastating documentaries about the rigors of filmmaking ever made. It's hilarious to hear the then-young Coppola insisting he isn't making art, but instead aiming for (in his words) an "Irwin Allen" experience with Apocalypse Now. Things soon turn from lighthearted to tragic as one problem after another rears its ugly head and Coppola nears madness himself. The film features copious home movies made by Coppola's wife, Eleanor (several with pretty bad damage), as well as tapes she recorded without Francis' knowledge for what she at the time expected to turn into a diary. The documentary comes with an optional commentary by the Coppolas which is nearly as fascinating as the film itself.

Catherine Keener film PLEASE GIVE. I'd recommend checking it out. Very well written. The whole cast is great. I enjoyed Oliver Platt and Amanda Peet in particular. Anyone else see it? Just came out today on DVD, but had a small theatrical release showing at some of the film festivals earlier this year.

Chris a.k.a StuntMike wrote:Just picked up the Apocalypse Now BluRay on the way to work. It has both versions as well as the Hearts of Darkness doc. And about 702 hours of special features, including a 1 hour interview with John Milius.

I think I'm going to wet my pants.

Thanks for reminding me that this is coming out! It's going into my Amazon shopping cart immediately. A must-have!

Astro Boy lasted ten minutes on the Blu-Ray player before my roomie took it off in disgust. He hated everything about what they did with his beloved Astro Boy world. So want to know what he put on instead?

You guessed it: Logan's Run.

still waiting to see what you thought about the blu-ray transfer. worth the buy? were Micheal York's exquisitely defined cheekbones even more exquisite on blu-ray?

Peven wrote:still waiting to see what you thought about the blu-ray transfer. worth the buy? were Micheal York's exquisitely defined cheekbones even more exquisite on blu-ray?

Yes! His exquisite cheekbones were definitely worth the money. He talks like James Mason, too ... I hadn't noticed that before.

This was the first time I'd seen this movie. It's quite cheesy. Their idea of Utopia is pretty much a big shopping mall. And they sneak in a nude shot of Jenny Agutter by putting her and York in an icy cave and having York say "Let's take our clothes off before they freeze to our skin!" or something ... I laughed, anyway.

WILD GRASS. Very different sort of comedy. Beautifully directed. The fact that Alain Resnais directed this at 87 is impressive enough. After showing the film at Cannes, they gave him a lifetime achievement award.